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15.7.13

Whiskey Marinade for Seitan ‒ Viskimarinadi seitanille

Last weekend we were celebrating Karhunpäivä, the traditional summer feast for the honour of what is likely the most sacred animal in Finnish mythology, the bear. The tradition holds July the 13th the warmest day of the year just like Talvennapa, January the 13th, is said to be the coldest. Too early to say if that was true this year, but it did feel warm. And the rugged scenery of Karhunahas, a canyon where bears used to be chased and killed, seemed more than appropriate for the day.

One part of any traditional feast is eating well. Seitan can really be the star of a grill evening if you just cook it right. One good thing to do is to marinade it for at least a day to build a great aroma. If you don't want to waste perfectly great whiskey like I did, you can of course use any marinade designed for meat with it, as making marinades only involves combining different taste-giving condiments you wish. A good thing to add in them though is some oil as meats are usually very greasy on their own and seitan isn't. So unless you're cooking them on a frying pan it's a good idea to make sure they won't end up terribly dry.

Combine the marinade ingredients and mix well. Roll seitan steaks in it one by one and place them in a plastic bag. Pour the rest of the marinde on them and close the bag. Move in the fridge for a day or two, but turn around every now and then.

Place the seitan chunks on the grill straight from the bag and cook from both sides so they'll get some crispy surface. You can use the extra marinade by applying on the steaks while they grill. What ever you do, don't throw away the goodness. Use it in some other dish instead.